Key to that happiness

A year ago, a friend told me about her search for happiness. She found articles on the internet and tried following them. But most of the points of those articles didn’t work. I had to share my story with her: I often lose keys of the house and car and I have a strong urge to Google them. Of course no internet or books can help me to find them. Sometimes we have to memorize those usual places where we can find our lost keys.

**

2014 was the beginning of the search for that key to my happiness. And there’s a little story there too. I’ve always been surrounded by people. I was that popular girl in the circle. Too many people and too much noise. Empty words and saccharine love- I felt it all! I sensed how some people said things but didn’t mean them. It was a reflective phase, a hurtful transition for me maybe. But I started focusing more on the quality of friendship. Not the quantity. Not those numbers that were displayed on the left side of my social networking profile.

I also did one funny thing last year; I disabled the Facebook birthday reminder; only six real people remembered my birthday. It was very unusual for the first time in last two decades. Sometimes the world is obnoxiously forgetful without those reminders, you know! I celebrated a quiet birthday with my husband, by the ocean; I was the happiest person on that day after a long time.

I loved helping friends, making birthdays of friends and family members more memorable, cooking a meal for a friend or family even after a stressful day at work. I can’t count how many times I cancelled my plan of reading a book to listen to a friend’s family and work related problems. But those moments of making others happy seemed like a blurry routine last year. I was tired, stressed too. Surprisingly I didn’t find ears to talk about my problems.

There was a point by the ocean where I hiked up to relax and contemplate. I noticed that nature and a good hike made me happy. On evenings, I hiked more than 3 miles to clear my head; sometimes I went with my husband, because happiness is real when you can share it with someone you love. Together we hiked and photographed new places. I fell in love with the process of capturing the silence of the nature, scripting my observation on the notepad. I photographed close-ups of transient moments. Slowly each trip started making me a happier person. It was an introspective journey. But I think, I was plain lucky to find the key to my happiness.

**

Last night I came back from another Yosemite trip. While unpacking I realized, every single cell of my body feels happy even after strenuous hikes for two days. This time Yosemite was more beautiful than ever. I reached there on Friday night; under the starry sky and snow-wrapped branches of long sequoia trees, the world looked monochromatic and so simple. For a long time, that’ll be my most precious memory.

** Have you been to Yosemite? Do you love long hikes? Have you ever wanted to find your lost keys on any search engine?

Post navigation

19 thoughts on “Key to that happiness”

So funny about googling your keys! You are very self-aware and introspective. Anywhere out in nature brings bliss. Me Darling and I like to hike–we are planning a major hike in a couple years called the Haute Route: Chamonix, France to Zermatt Switzerland. But doing many smaller ones in the meantime. Been to Yosemite but had little kids at the time so no big hikes. 😦

Haute Route is in our list too. You’re going to love the trip. Smaller hikes are great; I always feel like I achieved a small goal after finishing a hike. 🙂 Thank you for your kind words and amazing visit here. 🙂

What a lovely post. While I’m not a great hiker, I do like leisurely walks – I find it very meditative to be quiet with my own thoughts and present to the beauty around me at the same time. And I love Yosemite. I live in a large metropolitian city and it was in Yosemite I first saw a true dark night sky and the Milky Way. It made such an impression on my mind that I still think of it every time I gaze at the stars.

Leisurely walks are awesome, they give those quiet moments to connect with our voices inside. I love them too. I agree with you on what you expressed about Yosemite. I never saw so many stars in the dark sky. Thank you so much for sharing you experience here and your lovely visit. 🙂

I really loved this post. The simple things in life really do bring us happiness! Love the picture of Upper Yosemite Falls. A little jealous you were just there. Even though I have been there 23 times (yes–true); I have never been in the spring. Thanks for a great post!

I wanted to go once Tioga pass opens in spring. But there was a change in weather so we found snow when I reached Yosemite. Glacier point was open, thank god! Tioga pass was still not open. I’m sure I will be backpacking for Yosemite again in fall. Summer is so busy there, so not a good time for hiking in nature. Thank you very much for reading and commenting, Terri.

ELSEWHERE

Hi!! This is Archita .Welcome to my blog - A Journey Called Life .I found a pen. Then, a camera. And some blank pages to fill in. I script details of the world around me; I write stories. I also click moments and call them photographs. Sometimes words win. Sometimes a photograph steals all the words with its silence.Read more

Follow A Journey Called Life via email subscription

Join 2,173 other followers

Blog Stats

105,081 hits

FINE PRINT

This blog and the blog owner hold the copyright of all images and contents published on this blog. All stories, photographs appearing on this blog are the property of Archita and her blog https://archita.blog and are protected by U.S. Copyright Laws.
They are not to be manipulated, downloaded or reproduced in any way without written permission. Re-blogs are allowed as long as the "https://archita.blog" is acknowledged as the source. All Rights Reserved.